On Set
by anonymousDAIR
Summary: Life as an actor/actress for Gossip Girl, starting from the beginning. Starring Penn Badgley, Leighton Meester, Blake Lively, Chace Crawford, and Ed Westwick.
1. Introduction

On Set

Chapter 1 - Introduction

Dan Humphrey. Or that's what his new name was going to be for the next 6 years on the teen drama TV show. He still couldn't believe that he gave in and signed the contract. Maybe it was the temptation of working with his old home school friend, Blake. Or maybe it was the fact that he got to work in the one and only, New York city. But whatever it was, he was here now. His first day on the job, and he was already late.

"Penn, you made it!" Chace yelled out once he saw his newly acquainted friend. The two met when they both got their roles for the TV. So they decided to get to know each other over lunch the next day, since they were going to be cast mates for the next few years.

Penn walked over to his friend, and gave him a loose-guy hug. "Hey,what did I miss?" he asked him.

"No worries, man. The whole cast were just having a Bonding BBQ" he pointed over at the people gathered around the tables full of food.

"Bonding BBQ" Penn repeated to himself with a chuckle, "sounds appetizing".

"Oh, it is." Chace mocked. "Come on" he brought Penn over to the group of people.

The BBQ was situated at back of the studio, where there was a small park for the cast to take a break.

"There he is." Josh Schwartz, the producer, said as he walked up to give him a hand. "Welcome to the cast, Penn."

"Thank you." Penn said.

"We're all going to meet at meeting room in the Silver cup studio, right over there, in an hour." Josh told him as he pointed at the building to the right, before he walked off.

"Now let's go meet your new cast members." Chace said, as he brought him over to a table full of teenagers their age. "Guys, this is Penn." he introduced.

Penn immediately noticed his old school friend he last saw 2 years ago. Their mothers were good friends, and had them home schooled together until Blake had to move to Los Angeles for her acting career. They were really close friends back then, and it devastated him when she left. "Blake" he said, walking over to her to give her a hug. "Good to see you after so long. How are you?" he smiled.

"Great." Blake replied, smiling at the thought of working with her best friend again.

"Penn. This is Leighton." Chace interrupted, as he introduced the brunette girl sitting next to Blake.

"Hey, I'm Penn." he said, as she got up to shake his hand.

"And this is Ed." Chace said, as they walked over to shake hands.

"Wow, Chace. You are quite the popular one already amongst the cast." Penn joked.

"You know it." Chace smiled. "Come on, let's get something to eat." he said as they walked over to the BBQ.

"So you know Penn?" Leighton asked as she sat back down next to Blake.

"Yes, we were best friends a long time ago." Blake replied, with a smile on her lips, thinking of how much they used to have.

"Never anything more?" She asked, as she took as a sip of water from her glass.

"Already gossiping, ladies?" Ed interrupted, with a smirk. "This is going to be an interesting year." he told himself, as he got up to join the guys at the BBQ.

"Bye Ed." Blake waved, before she continued to talk to her friend. "Why the interest?" she asked.

"Just wondering if you two had any history together. You know, just making sure that it won't become awkward at set already." Leighton explained.

"No history. I used to have a small crush on him, but that was ages ago." Blake replied, looking over to see the guys hanging around at the BBQ. "You can have him if you're interested, though. He's a great guy." she winked, knowingly.

"Woah, slow down." Leighton held her hands up. "I'm a professional. I don't believe in the whole 'date your co-worker' thing. It can only end bad." she told her.

"Not even if he's really charming and good looking?" Blake asked, jokingly. "That must have been difficult for you."

"Tried it once, got burned. Never again." Leighton said, before the girls were joined once again by the guys.

"Who got burned?" Penn asked, as he sat in between Blake and Chace.

"Nothing, just girl stuff." Blake turned to say with a smile.

"I see..." Penn smiled. "Chace, mind explaining?" he joked.

"I actually have a guess." Chace laughed. "Probably already gossiping about who is dating who." he told them.

"We actually were." Blake said. "Nothing interesting yet, though. Especially since Leighton has decided that she wasn't going to date any guys who work here!" she said. "There go the fun cast parties that won't be fun anymore."

"It's too much drama, and way too awkward." Leighton defended. "It's called being a professional, Blake." she teased.

"Girl fight?" Ed laughed. "loving this job already."

"Typical guy mind set." Leighton replied.

Penn for some reason couldn't stop looking at Leighton, and how her smile made his heart skip a beat every time he saw it. He must have been staring at her too much, since she caught him looking at her. Feeling bold, he decided not to take his eyes off of her to see her reaction. She smiled at him, which he returned.

"I'm going to get something to drink." Leighton announced, not moving her eyes off of him.

"Me too." Penn said, as he joined Leighton. "Hey Leighton." he said, as they walked over to the drink table.

"Hello. Penn, was it?" Leighton smiled.

He nodded, as he grabbed two glasses of champagne, handing one to her. "So your friends with Blake?" he asked, taking a sip of his champagne.

"We met briefly a few days ago. She's a nice person." she said. "I understand that you two were really close before?"

"We were." Penn admitted. "but it was a long time ago. We were only friends, though. Never more." he told her.

Leighton looked at him for a moment, wondering why he decided to mention that. "So only friends?" she joked.

Penn chuckled. "So what about you?" he asked.

"What about me?" she offered, with a smile on her lips.

"I don't know, something interesting to know, I guess." he replied.

Leighton stood there, thinking about what to say. "My life's not that interesting. At least not yet." she told him.

"This TV show is definitely going to be an interesting part of our lives. Not only the experience as an actor, but also the relationships we build further on." Penn said. "Who knows what will happen between now and the end of the show." he told her.

"Who knows." Leighton agreed.

The two were interrupted by Josh Schwartz making an announcement on stage. "Remember that the cast is going to meet at the meeting room in the Buttercup studio in a few minutes." he said in his microphone.

"Well, I guess that we should head back to the rest of the group." Leighton told Penn, as she finished off her glass, before setting it on the table.

"Wait, uhm." Penn stuttered, not wanting her to leave. "Would you like to have coffee together sometime?" he blurted out.

Leighton turned around to face him. "I told you, I don't date guys I work with." she told him apologetically.

"Who said that I was asking you out on a date, Leighton?" He retorted. "Just coffee." he told her with a smirk on his lips.

She blushed like crazy. Way to jump to conclusions, she told her self. "Well in that case... I guess it wouldn't be the worst thing to have coffee with you." she smiled back, before she walked off to join the group of friends.

Penn chuckled to himself. It was going to be a difficult job convincing her to go out with him. But it was totally going to be worth it. He saw Chace wave at him to join the group, to which he did what was told.

"You and Leighton?" Chace gave him a suggestive look, as they walked to the studio.

"Nope." he admitted, "just friends going to get coffee together." he told him.

x|x|x|x|

It was noon, and Josh had just finished his speech about working together as a family, and how everybody how everybody had to dedicate their time and effort into each episode. "We will take an hour break, before we will meet again at the meeting room to discuss the first episode." he announced.

Penn got up from his seat, prepared to leave, before Blake called out his name. He turned around.

"Hey Penn!" Blake said, as she stood next to him. "The group were going to spend lunch together. Would you like to join us?" she asked.

He had thought to go back to his hotel room and relax, but decided it was a good idea to get to know his new cast mates. "I'd love to." he replied.

Together they walked to the studio garden, and took a seat at the table outside. Ed had gone with Chace to get food from Subway a few blocks away, while Leighton had gone to the bathroom to freshen up. Leaving Blake and Penn sitting at the table together.

"So how's your mom?" Blake asked. They were sitting next to each on the bench, catching up.

"Good. She's been really busy with her fashion line, so I haven't had much as I wanted to talk to her." he said.

"A fashion line? That seems like a nice idea." Blake smiled. "I've always loved her style." she commented.

This was the first time they had talked in a long time, and it was nice. Penn had missed talking to his best friend. "So last time we talked you were dating Kelly. How's it going?" he asked.

Blake sighed. "We broke up." she replied, in a low voice, not really wanting to talk about it any further.

"I'm sorry." Penn replied, regretting bringing it up. "He was a nice guy." he told her.

"Yeah." Blake agreed. "Hey Leighton." She greeted as Leighton walked back towards the table.

"Hey." Leighton replied. "The bathrooms here are beautiful. I mean, scented candles and beautiful flowers everywhere." she told them excitedly.

"A little unnecessary for a bathroom, don't you think?" Penn asked.

Leighton took a seat on the other side of the table. "Maybe for a guy." she told him, with smile. "Girls on the other hand need to have clean bathrooms."

Penn shook his head. "I guess." he smiled. "What time were we supposed to meet back at the meeting room?" he asked, changing the subject.

Blake looked down at her watch. "We still have forty-five minutes. Don't worry." she told him. "Chace and Ed should be here any second with the food."

"Unless they ate all of the themselves." Penn joked.

"Wouldn't surprise me." Leighton retorted.

"Well, I'm going to go to the bathroom." he announced. "Going to see if they're really all that special." he told Leighton with a smirk on his lips.

"They probably only made the girls bathroom nice. You know, since it's so unnecessary for guys." Leighton teased back.

Penn gave her a smile. "Probably." he said as he walked off, leaving the two girls alone.

"Are they really that nice?" Blake asked, once Penn was gone.

"Nah, they're ok." Leighton laughed.

Blake smiled. "Oh, look. There come the guys." she pointed towards Chace and Ed who were walking towards them with bags in hand.

"Hello ladies." Ed said with his native British accent. "we've brought sandwiches." he put the bags on the table.

"Where's Penn?" Chace asked, looking around.

"He went to the bathroom. Why?" Blake answered, as she started to open the bags to grab a sandwich.

"We've found this great club close by that Penn would love." Chace said. He looked over at Ed knowingly, and started to smile.

"A club?" Leighton asked. "You mean strip club?"

"Of course not." Chace laughed. "We might be guys, but no. It's just this great dance club. We were thinking of going there tonight." he told her.

"Speaking of, Leighton would you like go shopping with meet later today?" Blake turned to her friend to ask.

"Sure. It's not like the hotel room is any fun alone, anyways." Leighton replied, taking a bite of her sandwich.

Chace looked at his watch. "We still have half an hour before we have to be at the meeting room." he announced. "Penn better hurry up if he wants any sandwiches."

"Oh, He's probably going to be there a while to inspect the bathroom, thanks to Leighton." Blake giggled.

Chace looked over at Leighton, cocking one of his eyebrows.

"Long story." Leighton replied, with a smile.

"I bet." Chace replied.

"Hey Leighton." Penn said as he walked up over to her. "I guess you were right." he told her.

"Of course I was." Leighton retorted.

Penn smiled back, before grabbing a sandwich from the table. He took a seat next to Chace.

"Guess what, man?" Chace said, facing his friend. "We found our entertainment for tonight. We're going to a club!" he told him excitedly.

"A club?" Penn repeated, slightly confused. "Dude, we have to be at work tomorrow at 6 o'clock."

Chace laughed. "That just means that we can't be there the whole night. Come on, it will be fun. Enjoy the time you have before you can't go outside without mobs of girls surrounding you!"

"Someone's confident that they're gonna end up a big star." Ed remarked, with a smirk.

"I don't know, man." Penn hesitated.

"Leighton and I are going to go bond by shopping together, you should join the guys and bond as well." Blake told him.

"Yeah, man." Chace repeated.

"Fine." Penn sighed, as he took a bite of his sandwich. If he was being honest, he would tell them he didn't want to go. That he just wanted to relax before his first day at work.

"Ok, great. It's time to head to the meeting room now, anyways." Chace announced, as he threw away the trash the group had left on the table. "You coming, Penn?" he asked.

"You guys can ahead, I just have to check an email." Penn said, as he pulled out his phone from his pocket.

Leighton walked over to Penn. "Leighton, you coming?" Blake called out, as she waited for her friend.

"I'll come in a sec." Leighton replied, "you can with the guys." she told her.

"Hey, I just needed to check on an email from my agent. You don't have to wait up." Penn told her, as she sat down next to him.

"I'm sure it won't hurt to miss a few seconds of the meeting. After all, it's not like Josh's speeches are the most interesting in the world." she joked.

Penn laughed. "I knew I wasn't the only one who had to force their eyes open during the meeting."

"Definitely not." Leighton smiled. "So, what do you need to email your agent about that's so important?" she asked.

"Nothing interesting." he told her. "just paper work for the show, you know." he sent the email, and put the phone back in his pocket. They got up, and started walking towards the studio. "So you're going to go shopping with Blake tonight?" he asked.

"Yes, I am." Leighton smiled, "it's going to be fun. And you're going to the club with the guys. That also seems like fun."

"I guess." He replied.

"You don't like clubs?" Leighton asked, a bit surprised.

"Oh, I do," Penn chuckled. "I just don't really feel like going to a club tonight, right before our first day at work." he told her, "but that's just me".

"Wanting to keep it professional, good job." Leighton gave him a pat on the back. "Hey, you can always join us when we're going shopping." she offered with a teasing smirk.

"While that seems like a very tempting offer, I think that going to club might be a bit more fun for me, as a guy." he laughed.

"Of course. Got to keep up your male pride." Leighton agreed.

"Ladies first." Penn said as held open the door of the studio for her.

Leighton smiled. "I guess chivalry isn't dead." she teased, with a small laugh.

"Never." Penn replied, as they entered the elevator to go to the meeting room.

"Ah, there you two are." Josh Schwartz said as he saw the two enter the room. "I was handing out the scripts for the first episode." he told them.

Penn and Leighton walked up to him to receive their little booklet filled with their lines.

"You will get tomorrow morning to learn your lines for the episode. We will then meet at 12 o'clock to discuss what actors will be needed for which scene. In the meantime, the actors not needed for the first scene, will be assigned their trailer park" Josh asked the group of actors surrounding the table. "Until then, have a good rest of sleep. It's going to be the last for a long time." he said, with a smirk on his lips.

Penn turned to look at Chace, with a 'I told you so' look on his face. But Chace shook his head, and stood up to walk over to Penn.

"Man, don't worry we won't be there long. Just to have a drink." Chace reasoned, patting his friend on the back.

Blake and Leighton walked up to the boys. "We're going to head off." Blake told the,.

"Yeah, see you guys tomorrow." Penn replied.

"Don't come to work too hungover." Leighton teased.

"We won't." Penn smiled.

"Time to party!" Ed yelled out, flinging his arms on his friends' shoulders.

|x|x|x|x|

It was 9 o'clock PM, and the girls had gone to Bergdorfs to do their shopping. While the guys had gone out to explore the night life in New York City.

"What do you think the guys are up to?" Blake asked, as she looked through the racks of clothes at Bergdorfs.

"Probably getting drunk, and using their fame to hook up with random chicks." Leighton responded.

Blake turned, and looked at her with her eyebrows cocked.

"I was kidding." Leighton sighed, "who knows what they're doing. Why, are you worried?" she asked.

"Well, I don't want them to do anything stupid, that's for sure." Blake replied. She held up a long, gold dress to show to Leighton. "What about this one?"

"I don't really like the straps." she replied, shaking her head. "I wonder what Penn is doing." Leighton laughed to herself.

Blake looked at her friend suspiciously. "Why care what Penn is doing?" she asked, as she studied her friends face to see what she was thinking.

"He told me that he didn't really want to go, so it made me think what kind of things Chace and Ed are making him do." Leighton explained.

Blake was still suspicious. "So you and Penn are good friends?" she asked.

"Just friends. We're still getting to know each other and all. I mean, it has been only like 1 day since we've met." Leighton said. She grabbed a blue skirt from the rack, "come on, let's try these on." she took her clothes, and walked over to the changing room.

"So just friends for now?" Blake asked.

"Well he did ask if I would want to have coffee with him sometime..." Leighton began to say. Blake immediately perked up. "But..." she continued, "... we hadn't really set a date for it. So it's probably not even happening." she finished off.

"Strange." Blake was confused.

"I guess..." Leighton sighed, "but it was only going to be a friendly get together anyway."

Blake modeled her cute summer dress that had flowers imprinted on them. "What about this one?" she asked.

"It's really cute." Leighton commented, with a smile plastered on her face.

"So, wait. It was going to be a friendly get together?" Blake continued. "Oh, right. Your whole I-don't-date-cast-mates rule."

"Don't mock." Leighton laughed. "It's a good rule, trust me. That way I won't get hurt, and it won't be awkward."

"I guess it's a smart rule." Blake sighed.

"So what about you?" Leighton asked, turning the attention towards Blake. "Any guys in your sights?"

"Not really." Blake admitted. "Kind of trying to get over the break up."

"I'm sorry."

|x|x|x|x|

"You see those group of girls over there?" Chace asked, pointing towards a booth in the corner of the club.

"Yep." Penn replied.

"That's our target." Chace said. "Ed already called the blond, and I want the other blond. So you can have the brunette." he pat his friend on the back.

"And why are we doing this again?" Penn asked, skeptically.

"We're enjoying our last few nights as regular unknown guys. Sure, we've all played some roles before, but none of us are that famous. But once we start this chick TV show, girls are going to swarming towards us like bees." Chace explained with a grin on his face. "So enjoy, my friend."

"But I don't want to hit on some random chick." Penn explained, as he looked at all of the girls at the club.

"Why? Because of Leighton?" Chace asked.

Penn crossed his arms. "No. We're just friends."

"So she friend-zoned you?" Chace chuckled. "Look whatever there is between you two, just enjoy tonight. Worry about that some other day." he pat his friend on the back.

"How about this. I'll be your wingman for tonight." Penn offered.

A big grin appeared on Chace's face. "Now we're talking!"

"What about me?" Ed asked, as they walked over to the girls.

"Sure, why not." Penn sighed.

|x|x|x|x|

"And here's your receipt." The cashier said, as she handed the girls the paper. "Thank you for shopping at Bergdorfs."

"Thank you." Blake took the bags and handed Leighton hers. "Wow, shopping really is tiring." she said, as they walked out of the store with bags in hand.

"I don't know, I'm not really that tired." Leighton put down her bags, and grabbed her phone from her pocket to check the time. "It's only 9:43pm, Blake." she told her.

"I guess it's not that late. I'm just tired from all of the shopping." Blake said. She grabber her phone, and dialed the driver. "I'm just going to call Henry, so that we can put the bags in the car."

The girls had gotten rid of their bags, and were still in the middle of New York City, with plenty of things to do.

"I don't know, we can join the guys at the club." Leighton offered. "I'm sure it would be very interesting to see what was going on there."

"I guess that would be fun." Blake agreed. "I have Penn's number, I'll ask them where they are." she told her.

"Ok." Leighton agreed.

"Hey, Penn." Blake said, once he answered the phone. "Leighton and I are just finished with shopping, and are wondering where you guys are so we can join you." she asked. "Ok. Yeah. Thanks, we'll see you in a bit. Bye" Blake ended the call.

"So where are they?" Leighton asked.

"At some place called Pacha." Blake answered. The two girls stepped into the car, and drove off to see what the guys were up to.

|x|x|x|x|

"So you're an actor?" Tiffany asked Chace. Tiffany was this blond girl, who was sitting next him at the table. She had this big fascination with him, and touched him at every chance she got.

"Yes, indeed." Chace smirked.

Penn sat next to Tiffany's brunette friend, Ashley. They had talked for a while about her cats, but after she drank 4 shots, she had basically passed out. Ed on the other hand had gone off to dance with an Italian girl, named Bella. Even though she didn't understand a word he said, they still managed to dance together the whole night.

Penn was about to call it quits, until he saw Blake and Leighton enter the club. He quickly stood up, happy to finally have a reason to ditch, and walked up towards the girls.

"Hey, Penn!" Blake said, as she gave him a hug. "How's it been?" she asked.

"For Chace and Ed, amazing. Me, not so much. I'm not really into the club life." he answered.

"Well, Leighton and I got a lot accomplished." Blake smiled proudly. "She even managed to get the number of the cute salesman." she told him.

Penn looked at Leighton. "A salesman? Score!" he teased.

"Shut up." Leighton replied, giving him a friendly punch on the arms. "He was hot, ok." she explained, with a giggle.

"Let's get a booth guys, so that we can sit down and order drinks." Blake suggested. And so they walked to a booth near by the dance floor, and took their seat.

"I'll get us beer." Blake offered, and walked off to the bar.

"So did you find any good sales?" Penn asked, trying to start a conversation.

Leighton laughed. "Yes, I found some amazing leather boots for 20% off, so that definitely made my day." she told him. "What about you? Any luck?"

"I did have this cat girl, but she passed out, so not really." he told her, making her laugh.

"Passed out?"

"Way too many shots." he explained, "don't worry, I didn't do anything."

Blake walked back to the table, and gave each their own bottle of beer. "To Gossip Girl." she held up her bottle.

"To Gossip Girl." Leighton and Penn repeated, clinking their bottles together, before taking a big sip.

Penn was about to ask Leighton to dance, before he was interrupted by Blake.

"Leighton, look." Blake pointed towards the guy standing at the table.

"Oh, hello." Leighton smiled, as she looked at the cute guy.

"Hey, I was wondering if you would want to dance with me." he asked.

Penn gripped onto his bottle of beer. Another chance missed, he thought to himself.

"I'd love to." Leighton smiled. She grabbed onto the stranger's hand, and walked with him to the dance floor.

"Hey, are you ok?" Blake asked, noticing her friend's uneasiness. She scooted over to sit closer next to him.

"I'm fine," he sighed. He looked on as Leighton started laughing at something the guy told her, while they were dancing.

Blake saw Penn look at Leighton, but decided not to say anything about it.

"There you are, Penn!" Chace yelled out as he walked over to the table. "I've been looking all over for you, man." he took a seat next to Penn.

"Hey, sorry. What happened to Tiffany?" Penn asked.

"Yeah..." Chace sighed, "turns out she was kind of a weirdo." he chuckled.

Penn laughed. "I'm sorry, man."

"I can tell." Chace retorted, "I thought Leighton was coming with you to the club, Blake?"

"She did." Blake said, pointing towards her, "only now she's dancing with some guy."

Chace looked at Penn, before answering, "I'm sure he's a douche." he said,

"Look guys, she can dance with whoever she wants. Even if he happens to hace a hideous mohawk." Penn pointed out, letting out a laugh.

"Sure." Chace continued, "just don't come crying to me when she turns up with a new boyfriend tomorrow. I'll just tell you it's your fault you didn't man up, and act on your feelings."

"Go ahead." Penn replied, before taking a sip of his beer.

"Let's stop with the whole Penn/Leighton drama." Blake said, "Chace, where's Ed?" she asked, scanning the room.

"He was dancing with this guy an hour ago. I haven't seem him since." Chace replied.

"Maybe his girl didn't turn out to be a cat freak." Penn teased, smirking at Chace.

"Whatever, man. She wasn't that hot anyways." he told him. "They're way hotter girls here who are sane. But first I need energy. Anybody else want something from the bar?" he asked, before continuing, "Ah, who cares, I'll just bring for everybody." he said, before walking off to the bar.

"It's already 10:37pm." Penn read from his phone, "and tomorrow we have to memorize the first few scenes already." he told her.

"Don't worry, Penn. We have until 10am tomorrow, to learn out lines. And it's not like their going to expect that we memorized everything on our first day at work." she explained.

"I guess your right." Penn sighed, running his hands through his hair.

"Now come on, and let's dance." She got up, grabbed his hand, and brought him to the dance floor. He tried to keep up with her dancing, but ended up making a fool of himself.

"I can't dance to save my life." he yelled out, over the music.

"Neither can I, just enjoy it." Blake yelled back.

The music was upbeat and happy, but quickly changed into a slow song, resulting in Penn getting asked to dance by some random girl. "Sure." was the only thing he could think of.

"I'm Lexi, by the way." She told him, as she wrapped her arm around his neck.

"Penn." he replied, loosely holding her waist with his hands. In the corner of his eye, he saw Leighton dance with the same guy. She saw him as well, and gave him a small smile, which he returned. His heart got shattered into small pieces though, when he saw the guy kiss Leighton. Maybe Chace was right. Maybe he had to just man up and ask her out, before it was too late. Lucky for Penn, the song was a short song, and so he quickly walked off of the dance floor once it was over.

"You sure have a knack for ditching me, man." Chace said, once he saw his friend plop back down next to him.

"I'm sorry, Blake wanted to dance." he explained.

"Well, here's your drink by the way." Chace said, as he handed over another bottle of beer.

Penn grabbed the beer and emptied it into his mouth.

"Someone seems a bit weird." Chace noticed, slightly backing off.

"I'm fine. Completely fine." Penn held up his hands. "Really, no need to worry... I'm fine." he finished off.

"So, I'm guessing your fine?" Chace asked, finding his friend's behavior amusing.

"Definitely." Penn replied. "Oh, look who's coming our way." he saw Leighton walk back towards the booth.

"Hey guys." Leighton smiled, as she took a seat next to Penn.

"What happened to your dancing buddy?" Chace asked, as he handed her a beer.

"We finished dancing." Leighton said, as she took a sip.

Chace cocked his eyebrows, as if asking for more information.

"I gave him his number, and he said he would call me." Leighton explained.

"I'm going to get another round, anybody want another?" Penn asked, prepared to stand up.

"Oh no your not." Chace held him down, "we have our first day tomorrow, and I'm not letting you turn up hungover."

"What happened to him?" Leighton asked.

"Oh, you don't want to know." Chace replied, "trust me."

Leighton turned her body to face Penn. "Penn, I thought you hated clubs, and were afraid to do anything stupid before work started?" she asked.

"I do, and I was." Penn replied, starting to slur his words. "It's just that I had a lot on my mind."

"It's ok." Leighton smiled, gently rubbing his back, "we can head back to the hotel if you want." she offered.

"That would be amazing." Penn ran his hands through his hair.

"We'll see you guys tomorrow." Leighton told Chace, as she helped Penn up.

"See you. Take good care of him." Chace waved.

Leighton took Penn's hand and led him out of the club, and into the car of the driver.

Penn turned to look at Leighton sitting next to him in the car. "Thanks." he told her.

"For what?" she asked.

"I don't know, everything I guess." he smiled.

"Well, you're welcome then." she smiled back.

When they arrived at the hotel, she brought him up to his floor and room. "I trust you can take it from here." she told him, as they stood in front of his room.

"Again, thanks a lot, Leighton." Penn told her.

"No problem." Leighton said, before giving him a small kiss in the cheek. "Good night, Penn."

"Good night, Leighton."

TBC.


	2. Day 1

A/N: I have updated the previous chapter, so that it's way longer. So don't forget to read the updated version if you haven't. Otherwise this chapter won't make sense. Otherwise, enjoy ;)

On Set

Chapter 2 - Day 1

It was early in the morning, and thanks to Chace, Penn was able to escape an unfortunate hangover. He had gotten dressed in a simple t-shirt and jeans combo, and drove to the studio ready for his first day shooting. He walked into the meeting room to see his friends already gathered around the table.

"Hey." Penn said, sitting down next to Chace, "did anything interesting happen when after we left last?" he asked him.

"Well, Ed got bitch slapped by a girl, after he tried to hit on her," Chace chuckled, looking over at Ed.

"Smooth, man." Penn told Ed, with a smile on his lips.

"It wasn't my fault." Ed defended himself, but had to let out a small laugh thinking about it.

Chace looked around the room to see Leighton and Blake sitting together not too far away from the guys. "So, Penn." he turned to face him, "anything interesting happen last night to you?" he said in a low voice.

Penn sighed. "No, why would there?" he whispered back, "and why are we whispering?" he asked, slightly raising his voice.

Chace made a shushing noise. "Dude." he told him, "a certain someone might hear you."

"Ok, fine." he looked around the room to make sure the girls couldn't hear him, "she kissed me on the cheek." he told him, "but it was probably nothing."

"Maybe." Chace smiled, as he patted his friend on the back.

"Ladies and gentleman, I hope you had a good rest of sleep. You'll need every bit of it today." Josh Schwartz announced. The group of actors groaned, clearly tired from waking up so early. "I know you're tired, but it's something you're going to have to get used to." he told the group.

Stephanie Savage, the other producer stood up to make her announcement. "Shortly you will be assigned your trailer, and given your keys." she said. "In there you will be able to take breaks in between scenes, and learn your lines."

"We will meet outside where we met yesterday at the BBQ in 10 minutes, to assign trailers. After you get your trailer, you will be able to settle in, and continue to learn your lines. Then at 12 o'clock we will meet again in this room to discuss the scenes." Josh announced. "Everybody clear? Great. We'll see you soon." he finished off.

Penn got up, and met up with Chace and Ed. "So we have to be at the BBQ area in 10 minutes, let's just go there now and hang out." Penn suggested.

"Sure." Chace agreed, "I just need to talk to Blake for a few seconds. You two can go ahead." he walked off to find Blake.

"Why do you think he needs to talk to her?" Penn asked Ed, as they walked towards the exit.

"I have no clue." Ed replied.

|x|x|x|x|

"Hey Chace!" Blake smiled when she saw her friend walk up to her. "Leighton had to go to the restroom, so I'm just waiting up for her. What's up?" she asked.

Chace took a seat next to her, and took out his script. "I think that the first few scenes are between me, you, and Leighton. So I was wondering if you wanted to practice lines together." he asked.

Blake smiled, "I'd love to".

"Great." Chace clapped his hands.

Leighton walked over to the two. "Ok, I'm ready." she told Blake. "Oh, hi Chace." she smiled.

"Hey, Leighton." Chace said as he stood up, "let's go to the rest of the group." he told them.

|x|x|x|x|

Penn was sitting next to Ed on a bench outside. The two hadn't really got to know each other, since Penn always talked to Chace, so he considered now a good time as ever. "So you're British?" Penn asked.

"Yes, I'm from Stevenage." Ed replied, "I have to say that talking in an American accent is going to need some time to get used to." he told him.

"Say something. I've never heard you speak American." Penn asked, amused.

Ed laughed. "Ok, uhm..." he thought, "I'm Chuck Bass." he said in low, raspy, voice.

"Oh, right. That's your characters name." Penn laughed, "man, you're going to get so many girl fans if you use that accent." he laughed.

"Oh, really?" Ed smiled, "maybe playing Chuck Bass does have its perks." he told him.

"I originally wanted to try out for Chuck Bass." Penn admitted.

Ed raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, I know I don't really scream out 'badass', but something about that character just seems so interesting to act." he told him.

"Well Chuck Bass is quite the badass." Ed joked, "you play Daniel Humphrey, right?" he asked.

"Dan, yeah." Penn said, "although he's kind of a self-righteous ass, he seems like a nice guy." Penn smiled.

Chace and the girls walked over a few minutes later. "Hey guys." Chace said, as he looked down at his watch. "I think it's time to head off to the BBQ area." he told them.

The group gathered around a tent that was set up outside, with the actors sitting at tables nearby. Josh then brought the actors to the parking lot area nearby, where the trailers were situated. "On each trailer says the actors name, and the keys are hung on the door. You may now have time to get settled in. Remember that we will meet back at the meeting room at 12 o'clock, so that's in 3 hours."

Penn found his trailer standing in between Chace's and Blake's. He figured that they were arranged in alphabetical order by last names. He opened the door of the trailer to see that it was very simple. It had a small kitchen, living room, and bathroom in it. In the living room was a couch and a small table to eat on. He walked in, and sat down on the couch, ready to call his agent to bring over his stuff.

Half an hour had passed, and it was 9:49am, with still a few hours left until he had to go back to the studio. He walked outside to see actors hanging around with each other near other trailers, practicing their lines. He didn't know what to do, so he decided to visit Blake. Her trailer was a few trailers away, and had the name Blake Lively written on the door.

"Hey Blake!" Penn said as she opened the door for him. "I was wondering if you wanted to hang out." he asked.

"I'm sorry, I already promised to rehearse lines with Chace." Blake replied, as she walked out of the trailer. "Maybe Leighton or Ed are able to. Or you could meet some other actors, see if they're nice." she told him.

"I guess." he replied.

"Sorry, Penn." Blake gave him a quick hug, before walking off.

Penn walked over to Ed's trailer, to see Ed talking to a brunette girl outside his trailer.

"Hey, Ed!" Penn said as walked up to them.

"Hey Penn!" Ed said, "this is Jessica." he introduced his brunette friend. "She's just visiting today, and coming back to play your best friend on the show later on."

"Hey, I'm Penn." Penn said, as he gave her a hand.

"Jessica." She smiled back, before she turned to Ed. "So you were telling me about your band?" she asked him.

"Yes, I was." Ed smiled, "it's called The Filthy Youth." he told her.

Penn stood there feeling like the third wheel, so decided to leave. "I'll see you guys later." he told them, before walking off.

The last person who could think of hanging out was Leighton. She was actually the first person he thought of, only he was too nervous to talk to her after last night.

He knocked on the trailer park of Leighton Meester, but nobody answered. He stood there, deciding if he should just practice his lines by himself, before he was tapped on his shoulder.

"Oh, hey Leighton." Penn said, turning around to see her standing there with a Starbucks coffee in her hand. And the leash to a Dachshund in the other. "I was just, uhm... you know, wondering if you wanted to hang out?" he asked.

Leighton smiled. "So you stalked my trailer this whole time?" she asked, slightly amused.

"Uh, of course not." he replied, "you weren't there so I-"

"Calm down, it was just a joke." Leighton put her hand his arm, as she let out a small laugh. "Of course we can hang out. Can you just please hold my coffee and the leash for a moment while I open the trailer?" she asked.

"Sure." he said as he held the items for her.

Leighton opened the door, and let him walk inside the trailer. The trailer was already customized, with a dog basket on the ground and other small customizations.

"Is that your dog?" Penn asked, as he looked at the little Dachshund run around the trailer.

"Yeah, his name is Jack." Leighton replied, taking a seat next to Penn on the couch.

Penn took out his script for the first episode, and opened it. "I don't think we have any scenes together in the first episode." he said, reading over the script. "I guess I can play as Serena, and help you." he offered.

"And then after that I can help you with your lines." Leighton smiled.

Penn practiced his lines for the next hour, until it was 11:34am. "I missed you, B" Penn read out in an emotional scene between Serena and Blair.

"I missed you too, S." Leighton replied, looking deeply into his eyes, before giving a small smile.

"And that's the scene." Penn whispered, still lost in her gaze. He cleared his throat before continuing, "good job. I think that should be fine for today." he told her.

"Yeah," she sat up, before walking to the kitchen. "Do you want anything to drink?" she asked, "we still have half an hour until we have to be at the meeting room."

"I'm fine, thanks." Penn said, stuffing his script back into his pocket.

Leighton walked back with a glass of water in hand, and sat back down on the couch.

Penn took out his from his pocket. "I'm just going to call Chace." he told her, as he dialed the number.

"Ok." Leighton replied, putting down her glass of water. She called over her dog, and began to pet it. Probably out of boredom.

"Hey man, it's Penn." Penn said once Chace picked up. "How did it go with rehearsing lines with Blake?" he asked.

"It went fine." Chace answered on the phone. "Where did you end up at?" he asked.

Leighton turned to look at Penn. "They rehearsed lines together?" she mouthed.

Penn nodded his head. "I ended up practicing with Leighton." he told him, looking at Leighton.

"You did?" Chace asked in a suggestive voice. "Nice, man. How did it go? Did you guys talk about last night?" he asked.

Penn froze, not sure if his phone was loud enough for Leighton to hear. "Uhm, no we didn't." he said, looking to see if Leighton had heard what Chace had said.

"I'm going to get ready." Leighton mouthed to him, before standing up and walking over to her bags in the corner of the room.

"You should." Chace told him, "anyways, we're about to head off, so see you later man." he said, before hanging up.

Penn sighed, frustrated at how his friend was always right.

"What's wrong?" Leighton asked, noticing his frustration.

"Nothing." Penn smiled. He stood up readying himself to leave. He opened his phone once again, checking to see if he had any emails.

"Ok, I'm ready." Leighton said, with her handbag and leash in hand.

Penn was about to put his phone back in his pocket before he decided to be bold, and listen to Chace. "Hey, Leighton." he said, "I was wondering if you wanted to exchange phone numbers, you know... for convenience sake... with the show and all." he rambled on.

Leighton smiled at how nervous he was asking for her number. "Of course." she answered, as she took out her phone.

He gave her his phone, and so did she. He put in his number as a new contact, and thought if he should add a cute note to his contact, but decided against it. "Here you go," Penn said, handing back her phone.

"Thanks." Leighton replied, hand his phone back. "We should get going." she told him. She grabbed the leash, and walked outside with Jack.

"You're bringing him with you?" He asked, slightly surprised.

"Of course not. I'm letting Andrew take care of him. I can't just leave him alone in my trailer. Who knows what he'll do then." Leighton bent down to pet Jack. "Right Jack?" she said in a baby voice.

"So I'm guessing you like dogs?" Penn asked, staring at the sight in front of him.

"Definitely." Leighton smiled. "Oh, look! There's Andrew." she turned to face a big tall bodyguard, who took the leash from her. "Be good, Jack!" she waved, as her dog walked off with Andrew.

"Ok, let's go." Penn said.

They walked together to the meeting room, where they saw Blake and Chace sitting next to each other, chatting.

"Hey, man." Penn said, as he walked up to his friend.

"Hey" Chace replied, turning around to face his friend. "How did it go?" he asked.

Penn looked at Leighton, before answering. "It went fine." he told him.

"What did you two do?" Leighton asked, taking a seat next to Penn.

"Rehearsed lines." Blake replied, "and then some other stuff" she turned to Chace, and giggled.

Penn cocked his eyebrow. "Stuff?" he asked Chace.

"By that she means we played some pranks on actors close to my trailer. Don't be surprised if I get slapped by some random actress later today." Chace laughed.

"I don't even want to know, do I?" Penn asked, shaking his head.

"Probably not." Chace agreed, patting his friend on the back. "Hey, have you seen Ed?" he asked, scanning the room.

Penn remembered seeing Ed talk to Jessica last, but hadn't seen him since. That was until he came into the room, bursting out of laughter with his friend right next to him.

Ed walked towards Chace and Ed. "Hey, guys." he said, "this is Jessica." he introduced the girl Penn met before.

"So what role do you play, Jessica?" Blake asked.

"I'm going to feature around the 7th episode." Jessica told her, "but I'm just taking a tour today to get to know everybody."

"And has Ed been a good help, even though he's new himself?" Penn asked, smirking at Ed.

"He's been a very good help." Jessica giggled, turning to give Ed a kiss on the cheek.

"Indeed." Ed blushed.

"Well isn't this cute." Chace mocked, "kissing each other on the cheek, just like elementary school." he clapped his hands together happily, before turning to look at Penn.

Penn glared him, with a what-the-hell-are-you-doing face written all over his face.

"Well, it's my thank you for being such a good guide." Jessica told Ed, with a shy smile.

"Well, then you're welcome." Ed smiled back.

"I'm going to go to the restroom, see you guys." Jessica said, before she walked off.

The group of friends were talking, when Josh and Stephanie walked into the room.

"Ok, guys. I hope you're prepared." Josh announced, sitting down next to Stephanie at the head of the table. "For the next few hours we will be constantly shooting and working, and this is relatively easy compared to the regular schedule." Josh smiled happily.

"Why did I join this show again?" Penn whispered to Leighton.

Leighton giggled, before putting her finger on her lips, telling him to be quiet.

"Our first shot will be at Studio 23, where we will film the Grand Central scene between the Humphrey family and Serena Van Der Woodsen." Stephanie announced. "So will the following actors please report to make-up: Penn Badgley, Blake Lively, Taylor Momsen, and Matthew Settle." she read out from a list.

Penn got up along with the other actors, and was shown by the assistant where the make up room was. They were brought to the second floor, to a small room. Inside were chairs assembled in front of mirrors. "This is where you will have your make-up done, usually early the morning. But you will be notified when, the day before." the instructor said, before walking off.

"Hello, I'm Alexandra, but you can call me Alex." The women introduced herself. "I am the head make up artist, and will be here most of the time to assist." she said. "In a few moments, a very talented group of make up artists will come here, and do your make up for the Grand Central scene, I believe." she grabbed a piece of paper from her pocket. "Yes, well, until then go ahead and take a seat, while I will gather the artists." she said, before walking off.

Penn never liked wearing make up, but was always forced to because of his job. The girls; Blake and Taylor, were very enthusiastic though, and started to explore the make up room.

"Girls." Matthew turned to Penn to say, with a chuckle.

Penn laughed, "exactly." he replied, happy he wasn't the only guy in the group.

"I'm Matthew, by the way." he said, holding out his hand.

"Penn." he shook his hand, "so I guess you're going to play my dad?" he asked.

"Yes, I will." Matthew replied, "we do look pretty similar, though."

Penn chuckled. "Pretty close." he said, "credit to the casting directors."

Matthew nodded, "yes, indeed".

A group of make up artists walked in, introducing themselves. Penn took a seat next to Blake, after they were instructed to sit down at one of the make up chairs. It took about half an hour for him to get his make up done, but when he looked at Blake to see if she was ready, only her eyes were finished. Definitely made him happy he wasn't a girl.

"You may now meet with the Tom, the Designer to pick out your outfit." his make-up artist, Sofie, told him.

He was led out to a huge storage room, where racks of clothes were hung.

"So, your character just came off of a train, so I think that this would be a good outfit." Tom told him, as he held up khaki pants, a navy sweater, a green jacket, and a striped scarf.

Now he would completely look like an army guy general, he thought to himself. He was still annoyed that he had to shave his head for the show.

He got changed, and along with Matthew was brought to Studio 23, where Grand Central was completely remade. It still amazed him how they managed to do that.

"Ok, so the girls are almost ready with getting dressed, and should be here any moment." An assistant told Penn and Matthew, who stood in the middle of Grand Central.

"Ok, it's fine." Penn said, before she walked off. Penn was about to fidget with his make-up, before Matthew stopped him.

"I know it's not pleasant, but you can't touch it." Matthew told him. "You like fine don't worry." he told him.

"Thanks." Penn chuckled. He took out his phone from his pocket, and texted Chace, asking what he was doing. He saw Leighton's contact on his phone, and decided to text her as well. After all, why else have her number, if he wasn't going to use it, he told himself.

Chace: I'm getting Starbucks with Ed, before I have to get ready for a scene with Leighton.

Leighton: I'm moving in my stuff into my trailer. How e

was make up? XD

Penn asked Matthew to take a picture of him, with his phone. "Thanks, just needed to make a friend laugh." he told him. He then sent it to Leighton.

Leighton: Wish I was there to tease you about it! JK, you look great ;)

"What are you so happy about?" Blake asked, walking up to Penn.

Penn quickly closed his phone, putting in back into his pocket. "Nothing." he replied, smiling innocently.

"Oh, come on Penn." Blake laughed, "since when did we keep secrets from each other?" she pouted.

He laughed at her attempt. "We'll hang out later." he told her.

"Good, you guys are ready." A camera man walked up to say, "the man over there will tell you where you have to stand."

Together with Taylor and Matthew, Penn was instructed to stand at the fountain, so that they could shoot the first scene. They had to shoot multiple times from different angles, and so when the scene with the Humphrey family was finished, twenty minutes had already gone by. And when the whole Grand Central scene was finished shooting, three hours had gone by. Who knew that filming a scene of Blake staring out of a balcony would take such a long time.

"And cut." The director announced through his megaphone. "Great jobs guys!" he yelled out.

Penn walked over to Blake, "Hey, Blake." he said, "good job".

"Thanks, you too," Blake smiled.

They walked over to the tables full of food for the actors, and sat down at the plastic chairs that were set up. "So, do you mind telling me why you were smiling like an idiot before we started shooting?" Blake asked, as she took a bite of her turkey sandwich.

Penn sighed. "You remembered that all that time we were shooting?" he asked, as he cocked his eyebrow.

"Well, I don't tend to forget gossip." Blake smiled, "besides, we haven't talked like this in a long time."

"I guess." Penn took a sip of his water, "it's nothing really. I mean, I was just texting Leighton." he told her.

"Nothing? You were smiling like a fool in love. I don't call that nothing." Blake grinned.

"Why is everybody so interested in my love life?" Penn asked, slightly annoyed.

"Who else?"

"Chace keeps on nagging me about it as well." he told her.

"So that's why you were staring at him strangely during the meeting today. I knew something was up." Blake said.

"Yeah, well... speaking of Chace. What's up with you two?" Penn asked, happy that he found a way to change the subject.

"Nothing." Blake answered.

Penn's phone vibrated, and so he took it out of his pocket.

"Who is it?" Blake asked.

It was a text from Leighton, but he decided not to tell her. "My agent," he lied.

Leighton: How's it going so far?

Penn: Good, we're just taking a break right now. You?

Leighton: Just finished shooting a scene with Chace.

"Hey, do we have any other scenes to shoot today?" Penn asked Blake.

"I do, but I'm not sure about you. You were emailed your schedule for today by Josh." Blake replied, taking her phone out as well. "I still have a scene to shoot with Chace in an hour, which I actually have to go for now, thanks for reminding me." she quickly got up, and left, leaving Penn sitting alone.

"Bye" he waved. Penn checked his email, and indeed, he did get a schedule. Luckily, he didn't have to be anywhere.

Penn: Do you still have any scenes to shoot today?

Leighton: Nope, you?

Penn smiled. Maybe this was his chance to finally ask her out.

Penn: Nope. Do you want to take me up on my previous offer, and have coffee with me?

And send. There was still no answer, and it made Penn even more nervous. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to send.

Leighton: Sure, where do you want to meet?

Penn: I'll meet you at your trailer at 7pm?

Leighton: Ok, just remember that this is not a date ;)

Penn: Of course not ;) just friends drinking coffee together

He looked at his watch to see that it was 6:02pm, so had got up and threw away his trash. After he changed back into his usual clothes, it was only 6:19pm. So he decided to go to his trailer and change into a striped shirt covered in a navy blazer, with blue jeans. With still have an hour to go until they were supposed to meet up, he went out to buy a few things for his non-date.

It was 6:59pm, and he was standing outside her trailer, nervous as could be. At exactly 7pm, he knocked on the door.

"I'm coming!" he heard her say through the trailer, before she opened the door to reveal her in a simple black dress.

"You look great." he said, staring at how beautiful she looked.

"You don't look so bad yourself. Especially since it's just a friendly coffee between two friends." Leighton smiled.

"And you wear beautiful dresses to friendly get togethers with friends?" he asked, with a smirk on his lips.

"Maybe I do." she retorted.

Penn smiled, before revealing a single rose he hid behind his back. "This is for you." he gave it to her, with a shy smile.

"That's so sweet," Leighton smiled, "let me just put this in a some water in my trailer. I'll be right back, you can come inside if you want." she said, before walking inside.

Penn stepped inside, noticing that she completely redecorated the trailer. The couch had a furry slip on it, there was a rug on the floor, and had even a cute picture of her dog on the wall. "I can see you spent your decorating the place, it looks great." he told her.

"Thanks, it took my a long time to set everything up." She said as she put the vase with the flower on the table. "It's beautiful, thank you Penn." Leighton smiled, as she stared at the flower now sitting in her living room.

"No problem," he told her, "are you ready to go?" he asked, holding out his hand.

"Definitely." she took his hand, as they walked out of the trailer, ready to have coffee together. But only as friends of course.

TBC.


	3. The non-date

On Set

Chapter 3 - the non-date

Penn stood back up, after kneeling down on the sidewalk, to tie his shoelace. "Sorry, what were you asking?" he asked, as he continued to walk with Leighton down the streets.

"I was wondering where you were taking me?" Leighton asked. It was 7:14pm, and the two were walking next to each other-with her their hands brushing lightly now and then, trying to pick out a place to have coffee and dinner together.

Penn let out a small chuckle, "it's a surprise." he told her, "don't want to ruin it to do we?" a grin appeared on his face.

Leighton playfully pushed him, "evil" she laughed.

"Just follow me," Penn took her hand, and gave her a reassuring smile.

He brought her to an old restaurant in Brooklyn, where he had a table made outside in the garden where no paparazzi would spot them. The garden was small and simple, and had a table with two chairs set up in the middle.

Leighton looked at the place in awe, not able to form any kind of words with her mouth.

Penn noticed her silence and started to get nervous. Was it a bit much, he asked himself. "So, what do you think?" he finally asked, after much silence.

Leighton cleared her throat, "it's amazing" she said, as she turned to look at him with a smile on her face.

A small, chubby, Italian waiter walked up to the two, with two menu's in hand. "You sit down, please?" he asked in his Italian accent.

Penn nodded, before walking over to the table. The gentleman he was, he pulled out Leighton's for her sit on, before pushing it back in. Earning a big smile from her. He took a seat himself, and received the menu to look at.

"Tell me when you are ready to order?" the waiter asked, before walking off. After a few minutes he returned with a bottle of wine and two glasses, and set them on the table.

"So you replaced the coffee with some wine?" Leighton asked.

"I felt that coffee didn't really fit with the Italian theme, you know?" Penn told her, as he poured the wine in her glass.

"I for one, love wine. I was just curious if you were trying to get an innocent friend drunk." Leighton smirked, raising her glass in the air.

"Of course not. Being the gentleman I am, would never." Penn said as he returned the smirk.

"Well then, let's make a toast to Penn Badlgey, the ultimate gentleman." Leighton giggled, before taking a sip of her wine.

Penn watched her giggle, thinking to himself that maybe playing her friend wasn't going to cut it for him, and that sooner or later he was going to want more. He was in definite trouble. "So, are you enjoying yourself so far?" he asked her.

"Definitely," she remarked, as she looked at her surroundings, "it's really sweet, thank you Penn." she smiled.

"No problem," Penn replied, relieved that she liked his efforts. He took his menu, and started to flip through the pages. After a while of looking through the menu, the waiter finally returned to take the orders.

"So does the lady know what she would like to eat?" the waiter asked.

Leighton, "I'll take the Panzanella salad, please." she told him.

"Is that all?" the waiter asked. Leighton nodded, and handed back the menu. "And for the sir?" he asked.

"I'll take the seafood fettuccine, please." he said, before giving the menu to the waiter. The waiter, left saying that a fresh bread basket was coming soon.

"So, tell me about yourself, Penn." Leighton asked, leaning her elbows on the table, with her hands supporting her head. "I want to know more about this, Penn Badgley." she told him.

Penn chuckled. "Well, I think I told you everything you need to know about me," he told her.

"What about your name; Penn." she asked.

"What about it?"

"Where is it from? You know, why the name?" Leighton asked, clearly intrigued.

Penn rubbed his hands together nervously, "my mom used a tennis ball when she was pregnant with me..." he told her.

"...and so you were named after a tennis ball?" Leighton finished off, with a slight smirk on her lips.

"Hey, don't make fun of my name!" Penn laughed, "what about the name Leighton?" he asked, challenging her.

"There's no cute family story behind the name like yours..." Leighton teased, "...but it does mean, meadow town, if that's of any interest." she told him, before picking up her glass of wine to take a sip.

"See, at least my name has a back story." Penn smiled, victoriously.

Leighton rolled her eyes while shaking her head, with a big smile plastered on her face.

"I like to sing." Penn told her, after a moment of silence.

Leighton looked at him, furrowing her eyebrows.

"I used to sing everyday as my hobby, but since I decided to pursue acting, I haven't had much of a chance to sing as I wanted to." Penn explained.

"I have the same problem." Leighton replied, "I love singing as well, but work just doesn't allow me time to. Especially since Gossip Girl started."

"Maybe we could sing together some time." Penn offered.

"We should, sometime." Leighton agreed, with a smile.

"Here is Italian bread." the waiter said, as he put down the basket of bread on the table, "enjoy." he told them, before leaving.

Penn, completely starved, tried to grab a slice of bread, but quickly retrieved his hand. "Shit." he whispered to himself, as he touched his burnt fingers, "I guess the waiter wasn't kidding when he said 'freshly made bread'." he mumbled.

Leighton found it all very entertaining, and watched as Penn excused himself for the incident. "It's fine," she giggled, "I'm sure the bread was very hot." she said, exaggeratedly.

Penn's smile disappeared, before he shook his head. "You know, my theory is that the waiter doesn't like me, and has set out to destroy me." he told her, in as serious as a voice he could.

"Oh, that's probably it." Leighton teased, earning a chuckle from Penn.

Penn grabbed a napkin, and wrapped it around the big piece of bread. He was about to say something, but was interrupted by the sound of Leighton's phone.

Leighton took out her phone, and pressed on the 'decline call' button, before putting the phone back in her bag. "Sorry," she said

"It's fine, you can take the call." he told her, feeling bad, "I can wait".

"No, it's fine. I'd rather talk to you anyways." Leighton told him, with a shy smile.

"Well, I'm honored." Penn smiled back.

"So how did the first day shooting, go for you?" Leighton asked, breaking the silence between the two.

"Three hours to shoot one scene at Central Park, with half of the time spent on Blake. Wasn't the most fun I've ever had as an actor" he told her.

"Well, I spent my day making out with Chace, who plays Nate for the show, so it wasn't the worst day at work." she giggled, thinking back at how clumsy they were shooting the scenes.

Penn pursed his lips, slightly uncomfortable hearing that. He decided not to show his discomfort, and let out a forced chuckle. Luckily for him, the waiter walked by before she could say anything else, and placed the plates of food on the table. "Thank you" he told him.

"This food is delicious." Leighton told Penn, once she took her bite of her food, "where did you such a great unknown restaurant? she asked.

"Chace told me about it." Penn said, remembering the texts they exchanged, talking about where he would bring Leighton to. You are so whipped, he remembered Chace telling him.

"Well tell Chace, thanks." Leighton told him.

"I will." Penn smiled, thinking of how much Leighton didn't know.

After the two had finished their food, the waiter had brought over the cheque in a small leather booklet. Leighton reached to get the cheque, but was beaten by Penn's quick hands. Leighton glared at him evilly.

"No way are you paying." Penn told her, "it was my offer, so I pay." he put the paper bills in the pouch, before closing the booklet.

Leighton crossed her arms, "no fair." she huffed.

"Life's not fair, Leighton." Penn laughed, before handing over the booklet to the waiter. He stood up, walking over to help her out of her seat.

"Thank you, Penn" Leighton giggled, still not over how hard he tried to be a gentleman towards her.

He took her hand, escorting her out of the garden, and into the car. Sitting in a peaceful silence in the car together, Penn thought about their evening, and how he wished that it never would end. Sadly for him, they had arrived at the studio, and it was time for the non-date to end.

"I wonder what everybody else did tonight, while we were having dinner." Leighton told him, as they walked to the place where all of the trailers were located.

"I remember them having to shoot scenes until late, so they might be having dinner right now." Penn replied. Leighton's trailer stood in front of them, and it was time for him to drop her off. "So..." he began, as they stood next to the door of her trailer.

"I had a great time, really." Leighton smiled.

Penn returned the smile, but was lost in his thought, on how he should end the night. He knew what he wanted to do, but couldn't decide if it was the right thing to do. "So I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked, as scratched his neck nervously.

"Yes, you will." Leighton replied.

Penn used all of his courage to slowly put his hand on her cheek, tilting her head to look at him. He took a deep breath, before leaning in to finally kiss her, but was stopped by her finger on his mouth.

"Don't" Leighton whispered, "this was not supposed to happen, remember?" she told him.

Penn sighed in defeat. "Right, I'm sorry." he took a step back, before running his hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry" she told him, apologetically.

"No, you're right. My mistake." Penn sighed, "good night," he waved, before walking off.

Leighton groaned, annoyed at how things turned out, before walking into her trailer, ready to sleep.

TBC.


End file.
